Manhunt ends with death of Tanger Outlet shooter after gun battle with FBI

A suspect who was being hunted after a sheriff’s deputy was shot Wednesday outside Tanger Outlet mall was killed Friday during a shootout with FBI agents in Atlanta, according to news sources.

Avery Richard exchanged gunfire with the agents who were attempting to arrest him at a strip mall in southwest Atlanta, the sources said. Richard wounded an agent before being shot and killed by a member of an FBI SWAT team. A woman who was with Richard was also wounded.

The wounded FBI agent is being treated at a Grady Memorial Hospital for non-life-threatening injures, the sources said. The woman’s condition is unknown. Neither name has been released.

The manhunt began Wednesday when Richard went on an apparent crime spree.

Deputies headed to the Atlanta Dragway after a report of an armed robbery there about 4:15 p.m., according to a Facebook post by the Banks County Sheriff’s Office.

On the way, they learned that the suspect tried to kidnap someone there, but instead stole the persons’ car and sped off, the post said.

The stolen car was then spotted at Tanger Outlet Center, and deputies tried to stop it. The man ran away across Interstate 85.

“A short time later, the driver exited the vehicle and fired at our deputy,” the post said. “The deputy was shot while still in the patrol unit.”

The man ran away from deputies, continuing to shoot toward them before crossing Interstate 85.

The bullet struck the deputy’s ballistics vest and he is being treated for injuries that are not life-threatening, the Banks County sheriff’s office posted.

Shortly thereafter, a Commerce woman found the man inside her home, about two miles from where the deputy was shot, according to the GBI.

The man forced her at gunpoint to drive him to the metro Atlanta area. He released her with minor injuries and took a burgundy colored Ingles grocery store sweatshirt.

State and federal law enforcement officers then began the hunt that ended in Richard’s death Friday.

This story was originally published April 29, 2017 at 8:32 PM with the headline "Manhunt ends with death of Tanger Outlet shooter after gun battle with FBI."